BridgeSTOR Rolls Out New Storage Optimizer

New appliance handles with efficiency the growth in data through a combination of ASIC-accelerated deduplication, thin provisioning and compression.

BridgeSTOR on March 23
started shipping a new optimized storage appliance for midrange-size IT systems
that find themselves dealing with ever-increasing workloads. And that means
just about everybody.
Dubbed the Application
Optimized Storage Appliance for Network Storage, the new offering is designed
to trim operational costs for storage capacity, power, cooling and management
across both network-attached storage and iSCSI storage-area network environments,
the company said.

The appliance handles with
efficiency the growth in data stored in these systems through a combination of
ASIC-accelerated deduplication, thin provisioning and compression, CEO John
Matze said.

The appliance combines
Hewlett-Packard's server hardware with Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008
R2, and BridgeSTOR's Virtual Storage/Advanced Data Reduction. "It reduces
the need for storage hardware as aggressively as VMware reduces the need for
server hardware," Matze said.
BridgeStor's Virtual
Storage-Advanced Data Reduction software combines inline, ASIC-assisted
block-level data compression and deduplication with its own brand of thin
provisioning for optimized and scalable storage, Matze said. The combined
impact of VS-ADR and thin provisioning cuts capital expenses on storage hardware,
which in turn reduces operational costs for power, cooling and storage
administration as much as 70 percent, he said.
Can Scale up to 33TB, If Needed

The BridgeSTOR AOS Appliance
for Network Storage enables businesses to start with virtual storage capacities
as small as 2.6TB that can be scaled up to 33TB of usable RAID-5 (Redundant
Arrays of Inexpensive Disks Level 5) capacity, Matze said.
VS-ADR provides compression
and global deduplication across both block and file data pools. The appliance
can be deployed for high-availability applications in optional dual-active
configurations, Matze said.
BridgeSTOR also offers AOS
Appliances for VMware Virtualization, Backup Exec 2010, Microsoft DPM and
Network Storage. AOS Appliances start at $20,000 and are available exclusively
through channel partners, Matze said.

Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz